The Hershey Company has been sued by a consumer in the U.S. for allegedly selling dark chocolates containing harmful levels of lead and cadmium.
Christopher Lazazzaro, who has filed a class action complaint at a federal court in Central Islip, New York, alleged that Hershey put out “deceptive and misleading” advertising and marketing campaign since it failed to disclose the amounts of lead and cadmium in its dark chocolates. Lazazzaro claimed in the suit that he would not have purchased or would have spent less on Hershey’s Special Dark Mildly Sweet Chocolate, Lily’s Extra Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa and Lily’s Extreme Dark Chocolate 85% had Hershey's disclosed their metals content.
Lazazzaro seeks at least $5 million in damages through the potential class action lawsuit, including at least $500 per transaction under the law in New York.
The lawsuit comes a few weeks after Consumer Reports revealed the results of scientific testing of 28 dark chocolate bars for lead and cadmium. According to the study, while all 28 contained the heavy metals, 23 including chocolates from Dove, Godiva, Lindt and Trader Joe's contained potentially harmful levels of lead, cadmium or both for people who consume one ounce of chocolate a day. The magazine said that Hershey's Special Dark bar and Lily's 70% bar were high in lead, and Lily's 85% bar was high in lead and cadmium.
The 10-day moving average for HSY crossed bullishly above the 50-day moving average on July 26, 2024. This indicates that the trend has shifted higher and could be considered a buy signal. In of 18 past instances when the 10-day crossed above the 50-day, the stock continued to move higher over the following month. The odds of a continued upward trend are .
The average fundamental analysis ratings, where 1 is best and 100 is worst, are as follows
a manufacturer of chocolate, candy, chewing gum, non-confectionery products and snack foods
Industry FoodSpecialtyCandy